Gagging the Truth Becomes Mainstream

Submitted by Don on Mon, 2012-02-27 10:17

Following the publication on Facebook of a new mock cigarette packet (see above), Cermaq’s heavy-handed lawyers in Canada are seeking to re-open the proceedings at trial. The following letter was sent by David Wotherspoon, legal counsel for Mainstream Canada (a subsidiary of the Norwegian Government-owned corporation Cermaq), to the Supreme Court of British Columbia on Friday (24 February).

On the final day (10 February) of the 20-day trial, Cermaq’s lawyers sought an immediate injunction – a gagging order – preventing the defendant Don Staniford as well as his “agents” and “servants” from speaking out on salmon farming issues. The injunction - referred to by Cermaq's lawyers as the 'No Future Defamation Term' - reads as follows:

Even more alarmingly, the injunction would apply to anyone anywhere in the world with knowledge of the order.

“The implications for freedom of speech are scary,” said Don Staniford. “Cermaq is attempting to suppress legitimate criticism about Norwegian-owned salmon farming all over the world. The Norwegian Government (as owners of Cermaq) are behaving like a Fascist dictatorship in abusing the Canadian courts to promote censorship.”

Thankfully, Justice Elaine Adair has not yet ruled on the injunction nor rgiven her final judgment on the case. In the meantime, the public are fighting back against Cermaq’s censors. The following logo was posted on Facebook earlier this month.

Another member of the public posted the following graphic on Facebook:

And the new mock cigarette packet which prompted Friday’s letter from Cermaq’s lawyers was also independently published on Facebook by a member of the public.

By launching this SLAPP suit, Cermaq have not only named themselves in the ‘Salmon Farming Kills’ campaign but they have also brought global attention to their operations.

On Saturday (25 February), Don Staniford gave a final presentation on Quadra Island before being deported on Wednesday (29 February) back to Europe.

Speaking at the event hosted by Sierra Quadra, Don Staniford said: “The Norwegian Government may have a monopoly on salmon farming around the world but Norway does not have a monopoly on the truth. The more the Norwegian Government suppresses freedom of speech the more the public will fight back to defend basic human rights of expression"

During the presentation, a letter from Cermaq's lawyer's Fasken Martineau was shown - detailing how Cermaq had argued with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner against the disclosure of damning disease information (read the letter in full - online here).

Staniford continued: "It’s a sad but simple fact that Norwegian-owned salmon farming kills all over the globe: whether it is the killing of sea lions in British Columbia; the deaths of workers in Chile; the slaughter of seals in Scotland or the devastation of wild salmon at home in Norway.”

Just last week in British Columbia, for example, the Norwegian-owned corporation Grieg was charged with violations of the Fisheries Act for the mass slaughter of over 50 sea lions.

Later this week (29 February), Don Staniford will be deported from Canada and will be escorted all the way to the plane by a Canadian Border Services Agency guard with a gun and handcuffs. On the first day of the trial (16 January), Mr. Staniford was met outside the courtroom door by a policeman and a border guard in an obvious public display of Government intimidation. In a subsequent meeting, Mr. Staniford’s passport was confiscated and a ‘Removal Order’ was served banning him from returning to Canada for a year.

Following his deportation from Canada, Don Staniford will take up a position with the Green Warriors of Norway and will also visit Norwegian-owned salmon farming operations in Scotland, Ireland and Chile.